And if elected...

If it walks like a duck...

I am in a heated conversation with Capt Jack in the prior posting.  I contend that Delaware, Sen. Joe Biden's state of residence, is a left leaning state.  He contends otherwise.  I point out that the overwhelming majority of the statewide offices are held by democrats.  I point out that Sen. Biden is ranked as the third most liberal senator in Congress.  I further contend that Delaware is comprised of many commuting citizens who are more kin to their big city neighbors (Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Washington).  It is less than one hour from Wilmington to New York via train and slightly longer to DC.  The realities of the northeast corridor make commuting not only practical but essential to avoid the onerous costs of living in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. 

 

The Captain points out Delaware's "free market" tax structure.  There is a reason that Delaware has established itself as an economic haven - otherwise it would likely cease to be a viable governmental entity, unable to sustain it's tax base.  Delaware has a population of about 850,000.  Of these, 637,000 are eligible to vote.  The population centers (Wilmington, Dover and Newark) have 70, 30 and 30 thousand inhabitants respectively.  In the last primary, only about twenty percent of eligibles chose to exercise their right to vote.  Thus, I submit the result of the recent presidential primary;

 

Machine		Absentee	Total	Percent
Votes		Votes	Votes	Votes
PRESIDENT	313 of 313 Districts Reported
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR.	2789	74	2863	3 . 0 %
HILLARY CLINTON	39984	776	40760	42 . 3 %
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD	167	3	170	0 . 2 %
JOHN EDWARDS	1116	125	1241	1 . 3 %
DENNIS J. KUCINICH	183	9	192	0 . 2 %
BARACK OBAMA	50467	681	51148	53 . 0 %
REPUBLICAN PARTY
RUDY GIULIANI	1161	94	1255	2 . 5 %
MICHAEL D. HUCKABEE	7577	129	7706	15 . 3 %
JOHN MCCAIN	22228	400	22628	45 . 0 %
RON PAUL	2083	48	2131	4 . 2 %
MITT ROMNEY	16060	284	16344	32 . 5 %
TOM TANCREDO	174	1	175	0 . 5 %

 

Out of a total of 130,000 plus voters, democrats enjoyed a two to one majority.  Support for Barack Obama soundly eclipsed Hillary Clinton and traditional "conservatives", Huckabee, Tancredo and Guiliani, were soundly trounced by McCain and Romney.  Delaware was ranked 21st most liberal state, by virtue of laws protecting women, reproductive rights and homosexuals.  Wilmington ranks 134, versus a national average of 100, for gays and lesbians.  This is a measure of same sex households versus a national average.

 

Given all of these aspects, I believe it is safe to conclude that Delaware is a democrat controlled, left leaning state.  Economic policies notwithstanding, it should remain so for many years to come.

 

Data Sources:

 

http://elections.delaware.gov/results/html/election.shtml

 

http://www.ipas.org/mapping/final_map.asp

 

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/gayInfo.php?locIndex=9086

 

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/10000.html

 

 

Biden his time...

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Sweet nellie potellie. Joe Biden?

Did I hear correctly?

The eternal senator from Delaware? Posing windbag who had previously said he would never accept a nomination to the VP slot?

Barack, is this a joke?

He may have "strong foreign policy experience", but another way tosay this is that he has presided over a lot of hearings.

I don't think this is going to give him the edge he wanted.

Besides, Biden is at times left of Obama.

Full Disclosure...

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PoliticsMatch Your Political Philosophy The below is a way of thinking about your political philosophy by dividing your PoliticsMatch answers into "personal" and "economic" questions.  It is only a theory - please take it with a grain of salt! Personal Questions:  Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers. Economic Questions:  Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers.   Your Score You scored the following on the PoliticsMatch questions:
Personal Score	48%
Economic Score	72%

Where You Fit In Where your Personal score meets your Economic score on the grid below is your political philosophy.  Based on the above score, you are a Libertarian Conservative .
Personal Score This measures how much you believe government should intervene in people's personal lives. Personal issues include health, love, recreation, prayer and other activities that are not measured in dollars. A high score (above 60%) means you believe in tolerance for different people and lifestyles. A low score (below 40%) means you believe that your standards of morality & safety should be enforced by government.  Economic Score This measures how much you believe government should intervene in people's economic lives. Economic issues include retirement funding, budget allocations, and taxes.  A high score (above 60%) means you believe in personal responsibility for your financial matters, and that free-market competition is better for people than central planning by the government.  A low score (below 40%) means you believe that a good society is best achieved by the government redistributing wealth. You believe that government's purpose is to decide which programs are good for society, and how much should be spent on each program. Examples The chart below indicates how four "hard-core" political philosophers would answer the questions. From this example, you can see how you fit in with each philosophy.  Your answers are on the left. A "hard-core liberal" would answer personal questions to minimize government involvement, but would answer economic questions to include government intervention. A "hard-core libertarian" would answer both personal and economic questions to minimize government involvement. A "hard-core conservative" would answer personal questions to include government intervention, but would answer economic questions to minimize government involvement. A "hard-core populist" would answer both personal and economic questions with proposals that include government intervention.
= Strongly Support    = Support    = No Opinion    = Oppose    = Strongly Oppose
Personal Issues	You	Hard-core Liberal	Hard-core Libertarian	Hard-Core Conservative	Hard-Core Populist
Abortion Is a Woman's Right
Sexual Orientation Protected By Civil Rights Law
Teach Family Values in Public Schools
Death Penalty
Mandatory "Three Strikes" Sentencing Laws
Drug Use Is Immoral: Enforce Laws Against It
Allow Churches To Provide Welfare Services
The Patriot Act harms civil liberties
= Strongly Support    = Support    = No Opinion    = Oppose    = Strongly Oppose
Economic Issues	You	Hard-core Liberal	Hard-core Libertarian	Hard-Core Conservative	Hard-Core Populist
Require Companies To Hire More Women/Minorities
More Federal Funding For Health Coverage
Privatize Social Security
Replace coal and oil with alternatives
Decrease overall taxation of the wealthy
Illegal immigrants earn citizenship
Support and Expand Free Trade
Replace US troops with UN in Iraq
	You	Hard-core Liberal	Hard-core Libertarian	Hard-Core Conservative	Hard-Core Populist
= Strongly Support    = Support    = No Opinion    = Oppose    = Strongly Oppose
Issues Not Counted In Philosophy	You	Hard-core Liberal	Hard-core Libertarian	Hard-Core Conservative	Hard-Core Populist
Absolute Right To Gun Ownership
Parents Choose Schools Via Vouchers
More Spending On Armed Forces
Stricter limits on political campaign funds
	You	Hard-core Liberal	Hard-core Libertarian	Hard-Core Conservative	Hard-Core Populist
= Strongly Support    = Support    = No Opinion    = Oppose    = Strongly Oppose
Final Notes To ensure balance among political viewpoints, we arranged the wording of the questions so that half the time, the answer involving more government is answered by "support", and half the time by "oppose." Hence, each of the "hard core" philosophers would choose "support" for 3 or 4 of the Personal questions and for 3 or 4 of the Economic questions. There are four questions which are not counted in your political philosophy. Those questions do not fit this theory -- for example, Democrats typically oppose unrestricted gun ownership, while a 'hard core liberal' would support it on grounds of the government not intervening in a personal issue. These omissions ensure that the theoretical definitions match with current-day politics. Many of these statements cross over the line between personal issues and economic issues. And many people might answer what we call a "Personal" issue based on economic reasoning. But we have tried to arrange a series of questions which separates the way you think about government activities in these two broad scales. Political Map and some content from Advocates for Self-Government.
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